TMH - A thing of the Past

https://seemeye.com/2020/03/31/tmh-a-thing-of-the-past/

SHUT IN

I don't think I can take another day of being shut in my house; but the governor says it's the best thing I can do to contribute to the safety of Ohio.  While my friends in the Emergency Department and ICU are fighting on the front lines, I'm at home thinking up things to do to pass the time.  The Paramedics and EMT's fight through the lines of disease to care for people and I sit at home and watch Untold Stories of the ER on the television when I'm not watching updates about Covid-19.  I have to keep telling myself that I'm a front line defender by staying home and keeping my small part of Ohio safer by not spreading the disease.  But the thing is that I don't have the disease.  I don't have any of the symptoms but I self quarantine anyway.

I think of all the people in the ER, ICU, Paramedics, EMT's working without a fresh mask to cover their face.  They have to be content to cover their face with a week old surgical mask or a mask that has been cleaned.  It angers me that it has got this far.  Didn't we learn from China or Italy?  Didn't we watch as their PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) diminished.  Should we have started developing things to protect us before we got to this?  Why are we so far behind the 8 ball. Did we think that white privilege would be granted a reprieve from this illness?  Now we have a new name that's said so quietly it can barely be heard.  Shhhh, The United States has become the epicenter of the Covid -19 disease.  Don't say it too loud or some people might start to believe it.

My heart breaks for the first responders that have to put their life on the line every time they take care of a patient.  Covid -19 is so insidious that you can have the disease before you realize you have the disease.  Without the use of N95 masks, the spread of the disease will be high.  Just now, there is a plan in the future for health care workers to stay in hospitals/hotels/ etc. if they have been exposed to the Covid-19 virus.  Are they going to be quarantined their room? Will somebody that's able bring food to their room that they can cook in a microwave?  I don't know how that's going to work.  It looks like a mess to me, but it all looks like a mess to me. 

How did we get into this condition?  Didn't we learn anything from China, Italy, Hong Kong?  Didn't we hear their cries of ventilator shortages, mask shortages and health care workers in harms way?  Did we think that it would not happen to us.  Right now we are trading products for masks and gowns, couldn't that have happened before this pandemic caught hold of us completely. 

The president wants this "gone" by Easter.  He says the country should be back to working order by then.  I too, wish the government would have this gone by Easter, but with Ohio stating that we will have 10,000 new cases a day by the end of April, beginning of May it doesn't look like this Easter Dinner is no going to be like the ones of the past.

I keep thinking, right or wrong, that we expected the Covid-19 virus not to affect us.  Somehow, we expected it to stay on "that" side of the country which isn't as wealthy as we are.  The problem is it's here now and what do we do with it as a country?  What can we do to contain the spread of this disease.

I can tell you I am one of those "high risk person" who had been healthy but shut in my house for over 2 weeks.  I have my dogs to talk to but they really only talk about what they want to talk about.  They don't do any adult talking.  I look forward to face timing with my children (adults) and that brightens up my day for awhile. I enjoy walking around my yard when there isn't anyone else out.  I even like taking out the garbage when I have too.  But with the rain, that has even been limited.

I do get out and drive which is my only "big girl" thing I do and I was surprised to find how many golfers were at the golfing range and how many teenagers were playing basketball at the local playground.  It maddens me that I have to stay in while others can go about their business as if nothing is wrong.  Where is the crack down on that?

I wrote this because I felt sorry for myself.  I once was a front line responder and now I am retired and don't get to "save lives."  But I did learn something from writing this article.  I may not be the nurse or the doctor on the front lines, I may not be the EMT or Paramedic, I many not be one of a host of medical professionals who risk their lives everyday to thwart this Covid-19 disease.  I am a front line stay at home-er.  I follow the recommendations so that YOU don't get sick.  I hope you are doing the same.

Merlin Comes Home

This is my little grand-dog Merlin.  In this picture he is 8 weeks old and looks way bigger than he actually is.  He's a little petite Doberman Pinscher; no, he's not a Miniature Pinscher.  We got the opportunity to pick him up yesterday just under the Ohio order to Stay at Home.  He's so delightful, he's so playful and he's so sleepy; all rolled up into one.

While I could go on and on about how beautiful he is and how his breath smells like puppy breath and how his little paws are so soft, I'm not going to do that.  I'm going to talk about his ear cropping.

That "cone" on the top of his head is there to protect his ears since they were just cropped last Saturday.  Generally, the dogs ears are cropped around 7 weeks old and are put up in that cone to protect the ears and start them on their upward journey that makes a typical Doberman look like a Doberman.  Cropping a Doberman's ears have a purpose.  They are meant to increase hearing and decrease infection.  The cropping and the subsequent posting take time, but in the end it gives Doberman's the regal look that is known as the American Kennel Club (AKC) Breed Standard.

I know there is a lot of controversy when it comes to cropping the Doberman's ears and my daughter (who owns Merlin) catches a lot of flack for having a puppy that has been cropped and docked.  But, what most people don't realize is that the cropping and docking is done by the breeder before you physically get to see your new puppy.  The cropping is done under anesthesia and experiences very little pain if any.  How do I know that?  They are groggy from anesthesia but not crying after the procedure.

Now let's talk about what I consider to be the human counterpart of cropping (in a loose sense) and that would be circumcision.  The doctor takes a loose piece of skin around the penis (Doberman's loose skin is around the ears) and cuts it back to help decrease the incidence of infection.  This procedure is done about 1-3 days after birth and involves a lot of wailing. Truthfully, I can't see much difference except one is a dog and the other is a fragile human being.

Another thing I don't get is why is it anybody's business if she crops his ears and docks his tail?  Maybe she's going to show him which she would not be able to do if those things were not done.  If the cropping and docking is done humanly, like any other surgery, why would it bother people? 
We rip out the internal organs of dogs and cats when we spay and neuter them but that is for the "greater good."  Maybe cropping is for the greater good.

I can say these things because I have two Doberman Pinschers.  One is cropped and one is not.  The uncropped Dobie always has a field of dirt in his ears from digging outside; the cropped Dobie's ears are clean and yet she digs in the yard too.

My uncropped Dobie is sometimes thought to be a big ole' hound dog and people don't fear him until I let people know what kind of dog he is.  With my cropped Dobie, there is never a doubt.  I didn't buy a hound dog, I bought a Doberman Pinscher - a regal looking dog with ears that stand proud.  My uncropped Dobie came home when he was 12 weeks old; too late to crop, but we love him still.

Muddy Dogs

The pitter patter of the rain on my roof gently woke me up today followed by my Doberman Pinschers who were eager to start their day off with food and a run in my muddy fenced-in yard.  They got both food and a run and I got a mess on my kitchen floor.  I think they like to run in the mud because they know when they come in they get rubbed down with a big towel.  I used to get upset about all the mud but I don't anymore.  They live here, they make me happy and they let me rub them down to contain the mud.  What's a little mud between dogs you love? 

Dogs can sneak into your soul before you even know they are in the house.  They can love you unconditionally even while you are still deciding if they are a good fit for your home.  Once caught by a dog, they never let you go. 

Toilet Paper Blues

Supplies are flying off the shelves in the grocery stores.  People are stocking up on all the essentials they will need to survive a 14 day quarantine.  What are the essentials?  Apparently toilet paper is way up on the list.  Toilet paper is more rare than a bar of soap used to do basic hand washing.  But that's okay.  As long as I can wipe my behind, I don't really need to wash my hands, do I?

In some ways, hoarding has become more important than social distancing.  The consumer will fight long lines in a store to get that extra roll of toilet paper; sometimes standing shoulder to shoulder to get the desired item and then come home and tell themselves they are self quarantining.  "I just went out for a few items I needed then I can home and washed my hands real good."  I think we are confused as to what is essential and what is not.  If I have 20 rolls of toilet paper and live alone, toilet paper is not essential.

What we need to find essential is social distancing.  We need to maintain our distance from other people.  I understand that this may be hard because we are social people; but we have to start containing this illness and it has to start with us.  On a telephone call someone said, "I don't have to worry because I don't get sick. I'm going about my life as I usually do."  Well, how nice for you, but to how many other people are you carrying the illness?  How many other people will suffer because you don't get sick?

There is a definite spectrum when it comes to COVID-19.  On one end of the spectrum there are those people who believe that this illness is Armageddon and we are living in the end times.  On the other end of the spectrum are those who believe that this is nothing more than a hoax.  Both ends of the spectrum can be dangerous.  Armageddon hoards toilet paper, the hoax doesn't social distance.  Both are a threat to our way of life.

I understand that our way of life has changed since the COVID-19 virus has infected our nation; it really couldn't have done otherwise.  The threat is real.  The fear we feel is natural and a direct result of us being a "thinking" animal.  It's that "thinking" that's going to make us survive this pandemic outbreak.

Here is my question.  If you have 20 rolls of toilet paper and your neighbor needed a roll, would you give it to him?  Would you share your stockpile of hoarded items with others who had none?  If your answer is yes, why hoard?  If your answer is no, well then...........

Me and Martin and John

I am a dreamer

I dream that the color of my skin doesn't bother the person standing next to me.

I dream that my sexual preference doesn't makes a difference to you

I dream that people will realize that the God you serve and the God I serve are the same; the difference is when we worship.

I dream that there be no more people riddled with poverty.

I dream that all disease would be cured.

I dream of a world filled with love and serenity.

I dream that there is no more hate.

I dream that all the guns would cease and all flags would fly freely.

I dream how much the earth could carry if we all would dream....dream for something that makes a difference.

I dream

Do you?

Love is Love

https://seemeye.com/2020/03/07/love-is-love/

Rocking Chairs of Dreams

Today I woke early and Bill was on my mind, as he usually is.  I sat in the chair that I always sat in which was across from the chair Bill always sat in, but his chair was empty again.  He and I would sit in our chairs, pray, meditate and search God's will in our lives.  It was a wonderfully spiritual part of our lives and I miss that so badly.  At the end of our "session," he's smile and say, "That's it," and then he's lean over and kiss me. I'd stand and kiss his bald head.  I loved that part of our morning. 

After praying and meditating we'd discuss the world's problems and iron them all out before breakfast.  Mornings were great here and I'm so grateful to have had so many years of them with Bill before he died.  Bill and I had a "pack."  When we both retired we would buy two wooden rocking chairs and set them out on our porch and grow old together.  We'd sit on our rocking chairs and discuss our children, our grand dogs, and our life in general.  That never happened and we never bought those rocking chairs.  We were close, but life took a deadly turn and the dream ended. 
Now I go to Cracker Barrel and places like that and look at all the rocking chairs lined up on their porch and think of all the times Bill and I could have had solving the nation's problems on our own rocking chairs.  I imagine we would sit on the porch, rocking back and forth while the wind chimes surrounding us would catch a breeze and play music for us.  He'd take my hand holding it that special way that only he held my hand.  The dream now is only alive in my brain.  I will never own a rocking chair to put out on my porch.  It's just not meant to be; but I'm okay with that now because I have so many other "real" memories that no one can remove. 

Bill was a sensitive man; a tender man, who rarely raised his voice to his children or me.  He always tried to reason out problems or conflicts.  He was a peacemaker and a man God truly loved.  Bill loved life and found blessings in almost everything; but he was real with God, telling Him when he was upset with Him and when he wanted things to go in a different direction than God planned.  But Bill and I had a saying which we ended with each prayer, "Your will God, not mine."  We both believed that our Higher Power knew what was best for us and what was going to happen down the road.  He had all the blueprints, we had only a piece and we tried to draft the whole blueprint from the tiny piece we were given. 

This morning is one of those mornings when I look at his empty chair and wonder why.  After almost two years, if I close my eyes, I can still hear his voice whispering in my ear, I can feel his soft lips on mine and I feel our two hearts beating together, then I open my eyes and it's all gone, except for the memory which will remain with me forever.  My throat fills with a lump I can't swallow away but no tears flow from my eyes today.  Not today, maybe tomorrow.